Silicon, as used in silicon chips, is the material on which the information society depends for its power to process information. In 1988 INSPEC published the standard reference source on silicon properties and since then an enormous amount of Si R&D has taken place, with a hundred thousand papers published over 1989-1998. Now, for the benefit of academics, process developers and device simulation engineers working in the area of silicon microelectronics Prof. Hull has brought together the specialised expertise of over 100 invited authors from the USA, Japan and Europe coordinated by 18 chapter editors to concisely review its properties in a structured way. The result is a unique source of reference comprising 1000 large pages of tables, graphs, diagrams, photographs and illuminative text divided into over 124 manageable modules ('Datareviews') ordered and deeply indexed for ease of reference. As well as providing data and insight of immediate value it also gives expert guidance to over 3000 key references.